[Verse 1]
John Brown went off to war to fight on a foreign shore
His mama sure was proud of him
He stood straight and tall in his uniform and all
His mama’s face broke out all in a grin

[Verse 2]
“Oh son, you look so fine, I’m glad you’re a son of mine
Make me proud to know you hold a gun
Do what the captain says, lots of medals you will get
We’ll put them on the wall when you come home”

[Verse 3]
That old train pulled out, John’s ma began to shout
Tellin’ ev’ryone in the neighborhood:
“That’s my son that’s about to go, he’s a soldier now, you know”
She made well sure her neighbors understood

[Verse 4]
She got a letter once in a while, her face broke into a smile
She showed them to the people from next door
They bragged about her son with his uniform and gun
And these things she called a good old-fashioned war

[Verse 5]
Then the letters ceased to come, for a long time they did not come
They ceased to come for about ten months or more
When a letter finally came saying, “Go down and meet the train
Your son’s a-coming home from the war”
[Verse 6]
She smiled and went right down, she looked everywhere around
But she could not see her soldier son in sight
When all the people passed, she saw her son at last
When she did she could hardly believe her eyes

[Verse 6]
Oh his face was all shot off and his hand was all blown away
And he wore a metal brace around his waist
He whispered kind of slow, in a voice she didn't know
While she couldn’t even recognize his face

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 7]
“Oh tell me, my darling son, tell me what they done
How is it you come to be this way?”
He tried his best to talk but his mouth could hardly move
And his mother had to turn her face away

[Verse 8]
“Don’t you remember, Ma, when I went off to war
You thought it was the best thing I could do?
I was on the battleground, you were home acting proud
You wasn’t there standing in my shoes”
[Verse 9]
“Oh, and I thought when I was there, God, what am I doing here?
I’m tryin’ to kill somebody or die tryin’
But the thing that scared me most was when my enemy came close
And I saw that his face looked just like mine”

[Verse 10]
“And I couldn’t help but think, through the thunder rolling and stink
That I was just a puppet in a play
And through the roar and smoke, this string it finally broke
And a cannonball blew my eyes away”

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 11]
As he turned away to go, his Ma was acting slow
At seein’ the metal brace that helped him stand
But as he turned to leave, he called his mother close
And he dropped his medals down into her hand